Germany: Goring's Legacy

After three years of staggering losses that
have earned it the dubious distinction of No. 1 money loser in West
Germany, Salzgitter AG, the government-owned steel giant slumbering in
the strip next to the East German border, is going to be shaken up. A
plan approved by the Bonn Cabinet foresees mergers of its component
parts with private industry and, if need be, the shutdown of
unprofitable plants. In 1966, on sales of $800 million, Salzgitter
suffered a net loss of $45 million.

The idea of building a steel complex in the middle of sugar-beet fields,
which led to the...